Last year I offered the invitation to my readers to consider a word shimmering for them that might carry them throughout the year. There were 140 beautiful postings and I later created a Wordle from the entries as a celebration of the prayers gathered. I offer the same invitation this year and again some prizes to give away:
In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them. The desert became a place to enter into the refiner’s fire and be stripped down to one’s holy essence. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered.
Many people followed these ammas and abbas, seeking their wisdom and guidance for a meaningful life. One tradition was to ask for a word – this word or phrase would be something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime. This practice is connected to lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request – “give me a word” we ask – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into.
Last year my word for the year was sovereignty and it ripened in me as the year unfolded leading me to new discoveries about myself. I resisted the word at first, as I didn’t like the sound of it. But I knew in all the internal energy it stirred up that I needed to pay attention. When I allowed my heart to soften, the word began to shimmer in me, rang long and clear like a chime (hint: sometimes the word which creates resistance in us is the one we most need to pay attention to).
This year my word is sanctuary. This past week I had to go to the emergency room while alone in a foreign country because of leg pain and shortness of breath. I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and a blood clot in my leg and admitted to the hospital for two nights of treatment and observation. I am being medically supervised now and will be fine, but the experience was dis-orienting in many ways (in the sense of calling me to a new orientation). I have much to process in the coming weeks, but for now I remember as I lay there in the midst of unknowing, that my thoughts were aligned to home, to my husband, to my friends, to my heart-expanding work, to a longing for the refuge of the familiar, but also a profound sense of sanctuary right in the midst of where I was. The sanctuary in a church is the place where the holy of holies dwells, but we also create sanctuaries for animals needing protection or for persons fleeing persecution. The layers to this word and how it seems to reach out to me prompts me to choose it as my word for the year to see what else it has to reveal to me.
- What is your word for the year ahead? A word which contains within it a seed of invitation to cross a new threshold?
- What word, phrase, or image is shimmering before you right now inviting you to dwell with it until it ripens fully inside of you?
Share your word in the comments below before Monday, January 3rd.
Leave your word for the year ahead in the comments below plus a couple of sentences describing your choice. Please note that I have my comments moderated (meaning I need to manually approve them) so it may not show up immediately, but should within 24 hours.
343 Responses
My word for 2011 is alignment. I am attempting to improve my vocational (work/freelance/etc.) alignment — meaning I would like all my efforts in that area to work together to provide abundant resources and enjoyment.
I am also intending to work on my spiritual alignment. The events of 2010 taught me I need to attend to my spiritual core if I am to weather tough times or quickly shifting circumstances.
What a wonderful contest. Good luck to all and happy new year!
A word came to me before I read this, believe, but I thought it was a little trite. But it’s the only word that kept sticking with me. I BELIEVE I am good enough as I am. I BELIEVE that in letting go I am letting grow my new dreams and ambitions. I BELIEVE I can become physically fit. And most of all, I BELIEVE the faith I re-discovered in 2010 will sustain me no matter what happens in 2011. A toast to all of us for the New Year!
Open! Open my mind to new possibilities; Open my heart to the goodness that exists in people; Open my spirit up to allow the idea of the Great Spirit back in! OPEN!
The word that emerged to guide me in 2011 is “balance.” I believe that now, more than ever, Spirit is calling me to live my life in ways that create balance for my body, heart, mind and spirit. I beleive that living into the questions and life-changes invited by this word will lead to tremendous personal growth for me this year.
Hi Christine, what a great idea. The word I chose is resilience. I love this word and love how I feel when I experience resilience during the many challenges of my life and the lives of those I cherish.
My word for the coming year is “enough”. This is to remind that there is more than enough- time, money, help, support, god. I do not have to work so hard because there is “enough”. It also reminds me to not go overboard on anything- just enough. Thanks.
I considered several words, but as I was listening to a song by Jars of Clay, THE word popped out at me: WELL. The song ” It is Well with My Soul” always comforts me. But WELL in terms of physical, emotional and spiritual health are all critical to me, living with a spouse with depression and a child with chronic pain. Of course, the other meaning of well will help sustain me – that I have a well of resources to draw upon, especially the living water of Christ as he told the woman at the well.
I found my word while reading your words. It seemed to jump out at me and then it settled in my heart. I felt it mull around like melting butter until I understood how it was to affect me. This year is filled with “Invitation”…to be a better person toward myself, to allow more people to share my life, to allow myself to share more in others life, to be more creative, and so much more. My word is an invitation to have the most wonderful life that I dare to have.
I believe my word for 2011 is “compassion”, I wrestled with this for several days thinking surely this can not be the word Lord, I am a conpassionate person, but as I held it lightly I believe there is still work to be done…..
After spending time in prayer and pondering, the word “mindful” has caught my attention. This year I want to live a mindful life becoming aware of the sacred around me.